Six Flags gives Jackson a little MVP treatment

TAMPA -- Bucs free safety Dexter Jackson, snubbed by Disney after winning the MVP award at Super Bowl XXXVII three weeks ago, was an honored guest at Six Flags Magic Mountain Theme Park in Los Angeles last weekend.

Jackson, 25, who will become an unrestricted free agent Feb. 28, shot a public relations video for the park and may appear in a commercial.

"It was quite an experience," said Jackson, who started every game this season and finished with a career-high 86 tackles, three interceptions, five tackles for loss and 10 passes defensed. "The people at Six Flags showed me a great time. That was my first video and I even had a few lines."

The fourth-year player out of Florida State may have been ignored by Mickey Mouse but is finding other ways to cash in on his Super Bowl fame.

He arrived in California on Friday and returned to Tampa on Monday night. Cadillac provided him transportation and he taped an episode of Black Entertainment Television's Mad Sports Countdown, which is scheduled to air March 1. With 30 children from a Los Angeles-based Boys and Girls Club, Jackson spent about six hours at the park shooting the video, riding roller-coasters and enjoying treatment commonly associated with parade grand marshals. Jackson said it was the first time he appeared as the major character in a video.

"It was great working with those kids," he said. "We rode a lot of roller-coasters. It was fun."

In some ways, Jackson's appearance was the product of self promotion and opportunistic timing by the park's public relations department.

After recording two game-turning first-half interceptions against the Raiders in the Super Bowl, Jackson, one of the lesser-known starters on the Bucs defense, was named MVP. But Disney did not choose him to take part in a parade at Disneyland (in Anaheim) the next day. Though the honor often goes to the game's MVP, Disney selected quarterback Brad Johnson.

While accepting his MVP prize Cadillac Escalade at a news conference Jan. 28, Jackson expressed his feelings about Disney and opened the door for one of its competitors.

"I'm a little disappointed," Jackson said, joking at the time. "I always wanted to hang out with Mickey Mouse and the guys. I wasn't selected, but that's fine. I can ride by Disneyland in my new Cadillac on my own.

"So it will be great. I'll just toot my horn when I ride by Disneyland. I'll go to Six Flags or somewhere in Atlanta."

That statement lit the fuse.

"We called his agent the very next day and when we reached him, he said he was already calling us," said Debbie Nauser, a spokeswoman for Six Flags. "We were delighted that he likes the Six Flags entertainment product, and we were proud to have him spend the time with us."

Nauser said Six Flags, which owns 39 theme parks throughout North America, Latin America and Europe, has had several professional athletes endorse the park but none were as timely as Jackson.

"Let's just say none were coming off winning a Super Bowl MVP title," Nauser said.